


Loose Ends

by FoiblePNoteworthy



Series: The Non-Existent Twin [8]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Azula (Avatar) Redemption, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, double fire sibling redemption, how have i been forgetting that tag this whole time oops, zuko and azula are friends, zuko convinces the gaang hes his own twin brother
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:48:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29385816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FoiblePNoteworthy/pseuds/FoiblePNoteworthy
Summary: “I hope you are well,” Iroh’s letter had read, “The present situation is strange. Zuko has convinced The Avatar that he has a twin brother who is loyal to him. If asked by the appropriate people, I request that you go along with this lie.”***Zuko convinces the gaang he's his own twin brother part 8 - wrapping up loose ends before we get to the finale
Relationships: Piandao & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: The Non-Existent Twin [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1573438
Comments: 33
Kudos: 289





	Loose Ends

Several years after Piandao retired to train the next generation, the Firelord’s grandsons came to learn under him: studious and serious Prince Lu Ten – a laugh riot behind closed doors – and painfully genuine Prince Zuko – quicker to question than to learn, but Piandao preferred one of those skills to the other.

(It may have taken Zuko twice as long to master each move, but when he did he knew it cold, and he knew its history, uses, the people who had first used it. Not to mention how it fit in his head alongside his firebending, which he practised at dawn before his sword-fighting lessons began.

Piandao was quick to enforce music lessons in the afternoons, just so that Zuko would sit down.

(Zuko chose to learn the tsungi horn, so that he could practise controlling his breathing during his “downtime”.))

Prince Lu Ten was less diligent, but only because of Prince Zuko’s over-zealousness - he spent his time studying old battle plans and ancient laws. He taught himself the philosophy of Fire (as well as he could at least, being a non-bender). He took a particular liking to moral philosophy.

He chose to play the luqin, spent dozens of careful hours on whichever song had caught Zuko’s ear that week.

(Lu Ten had once confessed to Piandao that he preferred calligraphy and painting. Piandao still had some of his better landscape paintings.)

The only thing he could ever get Prince Zuko to do for fun was when he took them to the local theatre, insisting that they needed the culture.

He knew he was not the first person to take Zuko to see a play, and hoped he wouldn’t be the last, and he knew that Zuko would have learned swordplay with or without him. He still worried he might carry responsibility for the current… situation.

 _“I hope you are well,”_ Iroh’s letter had read, _“The present situation is strange. Zuko has convinced The Avatar that he has a twin brother who is loyal to him. If asked by the appropriate people, I request that you go along with this lie.”_

Prince Lu Ten had been fond of pranks, Piandao remembered. He noted the contents of Iroh’s letter, on the off-chance this wasn’t some elaborate joke, but took care not to believe it. If he gave him the satisfaction, there was every chance he’d try something else like this.

Prince Zuko had shown up at his door for the first time in almost eight years, with his sword sheath over his shoulder and a strange look of sheepish determination.

***

“So why hasn’t this Toph turned you in to the others yet?” Piandao asked, pouring Zuko a cup of tea. Their conversation had lasted almost an hour now, and Piandao was still caught between awe and frustration at the situation. _Only Zuko._ “Can we trust her to maintain your lies without an explanation for your actions in Ba Sing Se?”

Zuko’s face only screwed up slightly as he sipped the brew. Apparently three years spent with Iroh wasn’t enough time for him to acquire a taste for the stuff. Politely, they both ignored how quickly he put down his cup.

“Toph doesn’t know.” Zuko gave a nervous smile at Piandao’s quiet ‘ _hmm?’_. “She can tell truth from falsehood, but not what I’m lying about. Misleading language and vaguery does the trick for the most part. I think she knows I’m hiding something, but she thought she knew the most of it-”

“The extra brothers?”

Zuko nodded. “And the second Uncle. As long as she was in on it and the others weren’t, she didn’t mind it so much. And besides, she might have assumed anything strange I said was a cover up about the brothers.”

“But she has no idea that there are no brothers at all?”

“None at all. I guess knowing someone is a liar, and being certain she can tell, keeps her from actually looking too close.”

Piandao nodded. “Complacency brought on from overconfidence.”

Zuko laughed. “Toph is _incredibly_ confident.” He paused and sipped his tea, hiding his wince better than before. He held the cup between his hands, fingering the rim. “She’ll have told the others about the fake twins by now though. Maybe not the fake uncles or ‘Ozaila’, but that doesn’t particularly matter either way.”

Piandao nodded. Zuko had neglected to mention ‘Ozaila’ beforehand, but he could guess what had happened well enough. “What of Ozai? I doubt he’ll have believed you had a brother he simply never noticed.”

“My mother separated us at birth. _Tragic_ , I know-” not for the first time that day, Piandao regretted encouraging his love of the theatre- “and father knew nothing of Li until Azula’s reports came through.”

“…her reports?”

Zuko grinned too widely, more like a child than a Prince, and hid it behind a sip of tea that was likely mostly air. “She’s been spreading word of Li the Treacherous for months now, as it turns out. I’d been worried it was dangerous, but she pointed out that the lie could benefit the Firelord or us depending on what we did. If we chose not to rebel, she could simply tell the Firelord the truth; and if we chose to go against him, then multiple sources would be extremely useful in convincing him.

“Now I can act on either side with impunity,” Zuko said. “If I serve the Fire Nation then I must be Zuko, and Li is safe from scrutiny; and if I protect the Avatar then I must be Li, and Zuko’s loyalty is undoubted.”

A ridiculous lie it may have been, but Zuko had spun it into something quite impressive. With the Avatar himself backing his word and his exploits, the less gullible Earth and Water leaders had no choice but to believe in the twins as well. He was able to play both sides of the war cleanly, utterly flexible with masses of powerful allies.

“Which of them are you right now?” Piandao asked. “I’d like to know how to introduce you to any guests.”

Zuko squirmed in his seat. “I’ll keep to the shadows if anyone comes around, I think. I shouldn’t be here too long either way, just until we get word on the Avatar’s location through Azula’s spy ring.

“If I do speak to anyone however,” he said, “Just follow my lead. I keep my false identities well distinguished from each other. Though if father asks, I am Zuko and I am searching for Li.”

“But I have no clue where Li is,” Piandao clarified.

“Exactly. You’ve never met Li, if the Fire Nation asks; but for anyone else-”

“Li was my most beloved and talented student.”

Zuko pinked. “Yes. That would suffice.” He looked away, something faux-princely entering his tone, “Remain neutral if you can. I trust your judgement on the situation if that’s not an option.”

Piandao refilled his tea cup, offering Zuko the teapot with a perfectly blank expression. Zuko didn’t quite scowl.

“How much does Azula know?”

“All of it, naturally.” Zuko laughed, “I couldn’t exactly trick _her_ either way.”

Piandao had never met Zuko’s sister, admittedly, but he knew her reputation well, and Iroh didn’t exactly speak well of her. “But you trust her.”

“As much as I can. Not quite as much as I want to but…” he frowned. “I trust her enough for this, at least. The rest will come later.”

Piandao was tempted to push further, but he was all-too-familiar with Zuko’s determination. He doubted his struggles had tempered it any.

“What about your other allies? I suspect you’ll have to tell them about this at some point.”

Zuko sighed. “This lie won’t hold up forever, I’ll admit, but I _need_ it to hold up until the war ends. If they don’t trust me, they won’t accept my help. They might cancel the attack on the Day of the Black Sun if they think I’ve told Ozai about it.”

Piandao frowned. He had been working under the assumption that Zuko’s relationship with the others was somewhat strained, but functional enough due to necessity. This implied otherwise. “They do know you’re the Prince, right? “he pointed out. “I imagine their trust in you is already somewhat flawed.”

“I’ve not simply swanned into their lives and offered them a deal,” Zuko objected, grip tight on his cup. The Zuko he’d known a few years ago would have stood and shouted.

“We’ve fought together,” he said. “I’ve saved them from Zhao more than once, and…” he took a deep breath, then let it out. “It’s not just a lie between allies to smooth over the cracks anymore.”

Piandao sat back, eyed widening as the last pieces came together. “You’re friends.” He kept his tone carefully level. “This is a betrayal.”

At the look on Zuko’s face, he wished he could pull the words back into his lungs.

“We won’t be friends for much longer,” he said, town carefully neutral. “Maybe if I told them before the battle, at the first opportunity, bringing gifts of victory on a silver platter but…” he sighed, scrubbing a hand through his hair. “If they don’t trust me the war is _lost_. It is imperative that I wait until it is finished with, even if it means that we won’t maintain our friendship afterwards.”

Piandao sighed heavily. Looking back, he realized how _animated_ Zuko had been when he talked about his friends. He had assumed it was a normal part of his manner, but understood that it was his friends who had curled up the corners of his mouth, who had brightened his eyes.

He found himself with inadequate words for Zuko’s situation, but he doubted there really was anything he could say to help.

“Well,” he tried, regardless, “as mad as all of this is, I have to congratulate you. It takes a lot of skill and a lot of guts to come up with something like this. Not to mention the changes you’ve gone through as a person.”

He leaned forwards, just enough to place a hand on Zuko’s knee.

“I’m proud of you, Zuko. Regardless of how this all turns out, just remember that you’ve done the best you could with the hand you were dealt, and you have done something _incredible_. I know it feels dirty, but you’re going to save a lot of lives and a lot of bloodshed. You’ve saved the war.”

Zuko fisted his robes, head downturned.

“And remember,” the boy looked up at his words, “You won’t be ruling alone. I know your friends mean a lot to you – and they should, I’m not discounting them - but they’re not the only people by your side. You'll have your Uncle and your sister right beside you, and you’re welcome to come to me whenever you need anything. Not to mention that your people will _adore_ you.”

The Future Firelord nodded, something resembling peace crossing his features.

“I promise you, Zuko, you won’t rule alone.”

**Author's Note:**

> kudos comment subscribe to the main series come find me on [tumblr](https://foiblepnoteworthy.tumblr.com/)  
> check out my [Jet-adopts-Zuko au](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1557868), my [Platonic soulmate au](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23725510/chapters/56973808) or any of my [Other fics](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FoiblePNoteworthy/pseuds/FoiblePNoteworthy/works)
> 
> hello my darling regulars how are you doing today its lovely to see you mwah
> 
> so yeah this fic is like my ember island players fic just to summarise bc i wanted to clarify everything for anyone who was a bit confused (I'd had a few commenters being like "idk whats happening but its funny so idc" and like im glad this is entertaining on its own but i also want yall to enjoy the plot of this fic so). ember island players fic. 
> 
> if you want some insight into how i write zuko and Azula id recommend checking out my mini-fic, [A Conversation in the Dark](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22576516), about zuko and azula plotting a coup together.  
> if i hadn't already written this fic there would probably have been more about their coup and them plotting it in this series, but since id literally already written the conversation i just didn't want to, yanno? 
> 
> anyway this fic will be a 3 parter establishing and re-establishing relationships. next part will probably be a week to ten days (tho I've got an essay due so idk) and will be about zuko and azula and also Hakoda will be there. I'm p excited tbh


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